


The Voice In My Head

by spiderdust



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28806171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderdust/pseuds/spiderdust
Summary: Laguna had always been an obedient mermaid but when her parents try to force her into an unwanted marriage, she refuses. Cast out by her clan, her tail is vanished and her gills are taken away. Left for dead, she washes up on Storybrooke beach where she is found by Emma Swan and Neal Cassidy.
Relationships: Peter Pan/Original Female Characters
Kudos: 4





	The Voice In My Head

**This story starts S2: E21 of OUAT - 19mins 42secs \- and finishes S2: E22 - 08mins 54secs -**

**"Second Star to the Right" "And Straight On 'Til Morning"**

* * *

"There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I don't regret having left you. I'm sorry, Emma. For everything."

"Me too-."

Emma was cut off by the sound of choking as she smiled tearfully at Neal. Both of them whipped their heads to the side, shocked to see a young girl crawling onto the beach. She was soaked and had clearly just been washed up by the tide. Both of them ran up to help her, lifting her slightly as they tried to pull her away from the waves. Eventually, they got her a few metres up the beach and placed her on her side. She choked up several mouthfuls of water as they did so, tears running down her cheeks. She had dark brown, almost black, hair that went down to her ear but then the colour changed to a dark purple that went down to just below her midback. She looked to be about 15 or 16.

"Emma."

Looking up, Emma saw Neal staring, his eyes wide. She frowned and turned to see what he was staring at. Her own eyes widened when she saw a tail where the girl's legs should be. As the two of them stared, the shimmering purple tail slowly changed into normal, human legs. Emma realised before Neal that the girls bottom half was now completely naked and quickly pulled off her coat, draping it over the girl. Neal was still in shock.

"What the hell. I've seen mermaids before but-. Why was she choking on the water? And her tail- it shouldn't just..."

Emma stared at him for a moment before making the decision to pull out her phone. They couldn't move her on their own and she obviously needed medical help. She had a cut on her face and several along the sides of her torso. Deep ones. Punching in David's number, she waited impatiently for him to pick up, watching as Neal took off his scarf and placed in on the wounds, trying to slow the flow of blood.

"Emma? Thank god. I need-"

"David, there's a girl- a mermaid. She just washed up on the beach and she's injured. Badly-"

"Mary Margeret is being tortured- a mermaid?"

"Tortured!"

Emma stared at her phone in horror before hanging up and turning back to Neal.

"You'll have to carry her. Get her to Gold. I need to get to Mary Margeret-"

"Emma, what?"

"Please, Neal!"

Neal hesitated for a few seconds before nodding and gently picking up the girl, wincing when she cried out as his finger accidentally caught on her cut. Stammering out apologies, he ran as fast as he could, only just keeping up with Emma. He barely listened as Emma picked up the phone, only stopping when she threw out her arm, forcing him to stop running.

"I was right. Tamara was not down here for a run. She's in there... with Regina."

"Emma- the girl!"

"If Regina's in there, she can heal her after we free her. It's quicker than running all the way to your Father. He might not even help us."

"And Regina will?"

Emma hesitated for a second before nodding and running towards the Cannery. Neal stared after her, about to protest when he felt the warm blood of the girl he was holding finally soak through his last layer of clothing. Sighing, he ran after her.

As they entered the Cannery, they were hit with the smell of sardines, making them choke as it filled their senses. Breathing shallowly, they quietly walked further into the building, Emma leading them, her gun ready.

"You sure you wanna be here?"

"I'm not gonna leave you alone in this place."

"If something goes down with Tamara, I need you to leave. Take the girl to Gold or someone else who can heal her."

"Emma, if Tamara is hiding Regina here in her evil layer by the docks then I've got your back. I'm not going to leave you to fight her."

A clattering sound stopped Emma's words of protest as she gasped, both of them pressing themselves against the wall. More sounds echoed around them and Emma ran forward, clocking her gun as she pointed it directly in front of her. Neal lagged behind only slightly, trying to make sure the girl in his arms didn't anyone. As they rounded the corner, they came face to face with David and Mary Margeret.

"What the hell guys?"

"Here. So that doesn't happen again."

David handed Emma a walkie talkie, his eyes wandering over to the girl in Neal's arms. He frowned as he stared at her bare, human legs. Emma waved her hand by his face, gaining his attention again/

"Don't worry about her. You and Mary Margeret take the basement. We'll search on the main floor. Regina's gotta be here somewhere."

"Emma if we come across Tamara, I won't be able to fight her. The girl-"

"I'll take her. I should be able to hold her and fire a gun at the same time."

David held out his arms for the girl, making sure he kept the coat on her legs. Once he had a good grip on her, he nodded at Emma and ran towards the basement, Mary Margeret following after him. They both looked down at the girl as they ran, Mary Margeret holding the coat down so that it didn't slip off.

"Who do you think she is?"

"I don't know but Emma said something about a mermaid on the phone. Whoever she is, we have to get her to Mother Superior after we rescue Regina."

Nodding in agreement, they ran down several hallways and down a flight of stairs, only stopping when they heard the sound of a man shouting and pained moans. They looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. Sighing, David gently bent down, placing the girl onto the wooden floor. If this turned into a shootout, he didn't want to risk her getting more injured then she already was.

Racing down the rest of the hallway, they turned into a doorway to see Greg Mendell electrocuting Regina. Without thinking, David shot three bullets into the machine, breaking it.

"Don't move!"

Greg stared at him for a minute before breaking for it, running out of a door on the other side of the room. Racing after him, David was only stopped by the cries of his wife as she tried to get Regina out of the restraints holding her to the table. Running back over to the table, he pulled out his walkie talkie.

"Emma, you gotta block the exits."

"Already on it. You guys alright?"

"Oh, we're fine. We found Regina with Mendell. He's coming your way.

* * *

"Now that the cuff is off, she's going to be ok. Given time and rest. Her magic will return. And as for the girl, she will recover just fine now that I've healed her wounds. Send for me once she awakens. I'm very interested in what curse took her her tail from her."

Both Mary Margeret and David nodded, turning around as the door opened. Emma walked into the room, her expression blank.

"What happened? What is it?"

Emma looked up at them, seemingly shocked at their presence. Mary Margeret looked at her in confusion.

"Where's Neal?"

"He's gone. She killed him."

All three of them stared at her in horror as she looked back down at the floor, her face shocked. Looking back at his wife, David stepped towards his daughter slightly, gently placing his hand on her arm and guiding her towards the stairs. Letting her choose what step to sit on, he sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her.

"Emma. I'm so sorry."

"How... am I going to tell Henry?"

David's face dropped ever so slightly as he looked away for a moment before hugging her tighter and kissing her on the head. He didn't know how she was going to tell Henry but he would support her in any way she did decide to tell him. Hugging her for a little bit longer, he eventually left her to her thoughts, walking back over to where his wife was gently pressing a cold cloth to Regina's head. The mermaid girl was recording just fine and the Mother Superior had informed them that she would most likely wake at any point in the next hour or so.

They watched as Regina woke slowly, Mary Margeret withdrawing her arm as the woman's eyes opened.

"You... - you saved me?"

"Yes"

"You really think we'd let you die? Despite our... differences, we're family.

Regina sighed, looking up at the ceiling, her attention drawn to the purple hair that was splayed across the pillows next to her.

"Where are they and- who is that?"

"They got away. And we don't know who that is. She washed up on the beach about 15 minutes before we found you. Emma said that she had a tail but it turned into normal legs pretty much as soon as they saw her. Mother Superior said a curse took her tail away but no one is sure what one."

The girl next to them groaned in her sleep as if she could sense them talking about her. Regina looked at her for a moment longer before looking back over at the couple standing beside the bed.

"So they still have it?"

"Still have what?"

Regina bit her lip, clenching her jaw ever so slightly as her eyes flicked across the room, refusing to look them in the eyes.

"A trigger."

"A trigger?"

"That will destroy Storybrooke."

Marry Margeret shook her head, her face pained.

"I had a fail-safe built into the curse."

"Why exactly were you carrying it around?"

David looked down at Regina incredulously.

"She was going to destroy us, Mary Margeret-."

"I was going to use the beans to take Henry back to the Enchanted Forest-."

"And in the process, kill all of us."

"You wanna discuss justification? You were going to abandon _me._ Or shall we discuss the more pressing issue? Which is that I no longer control the trigger."

_"Then who does?"_

They all turned to look in the direction the voice came from, all eyes falling on the girl. She was blinking, clearly having only just awoken, and she was staring at them as if she had never seen another living being before. It was clear, now that her eyes were open, that she was a mermaid. Only mermaids had strangely coloured iris such as hers. They were a bright, vivid purple that seemed to stare into their souls.

"Where am I?"

* * *

Once they had made sure Regina was ok to look after both herself and the girl who had introduced herself as 'Laguna', David and Mary Margeret, as well as Emma, had driven to the park where Henry was. They had spotted Gold at first, standing by some bushes, and had called out to him. Mary Margeret encouraged Emma to go speak to Henry while they stayed with Gold.

"Mr Gold we have some news we have to share with you and it's not good."

"Not interested-."

"It's about your son."

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Tamara shot him."

Mr Gold turned around, his hand tightening around his cane as he took in David's words.

"What? He's dead?"

"They used a bean to open a portal. Neal was hurt so badly, he fell through. He's gone."

Stumbling backwards slightly, Mr Gold's eyes scanned their faces, looking for any indication that they were lying. He only saw their tear-filled eyes and he knew they were telling the truth.

"Bae wasn't supposed to die."

Mary Margeret looked over to where Emma had just broken the news to Henry, both of them crying as they hugged each other. She turned back to Mr Gold's grief-stricken face as David started to explain the situation about the stolen trigger.

"-a fail-safe in the curse that can destroy Storybrooke."

"If they activate it, it's a self destruct. Everyone not born in this world will die."

"I know this is hard but we need your help."

Mr Gold was shaking slightly as he tried to suppress his emotions and wrap his head around the situation. His head pulled back slightly as his eyes watered.

"No."

He slowly started walking past them, his head facing the ground.

"They killed your son in cold blood, and you don't want to stop them?"

"They didn't kill my son." His eyes filled with tears as he stared at them. " _I_ _did._ I brought magic to this world to find Bae and now he's dead. Magic always has a price, and this- this is it. But I'm prepared to pay it."

"But we'll die- you'll die."

Mr Gold nodded, looking them in the eyes as he spoke.

"No, I've made my peace with that."

They stared at him incredulously as he nodded again before turning around and walking off.

* * *

"You're saying that your own family did this to you?"

"It happens all the time. It's just... not everyone survives as I did."

Regina looked over her shoulder as she pulled on her second boot. The girl, Laguna, had just explained how she had lost her tail. Her family had tried to force her into an arranged marriage and when she had refused, they had cursed her - a common occurrence in mermaid culture apparently. They had given her 5 minutes to swim to the surface before her gills and tail disappeared. She had reached the surface just as her gills disappeared but she was swept back under by a big wave - something that both Laguna and Regina suspected was courtesy of her family. Luckily, a wave had swept her onto the beach where Emma and Neal had found her.

"And your cuts? I saw the blood on the sheets earlier."

"That was thanks to several chunks of driftwood. Despite banishing me, no merperson would ever spill another merperson's blood. It goes against sacred law."

Regina nodded as she stood up, rubbing her neck as she walked away from the bed slightly. The door opened as she approached the stairs and Henry came running in, followed by David, Emma and Mary Margeret.

"Oh- Henry!"

"Mom!"

Wrapping her arms around herself, she wasn't used to wearing human clothes, Laguna attempted to get out of bed. Her legs shook as she stood, holding onto the wall, but they held steady. She smiled, proud of herself. Suddenly, the whole room shook, sending her to the floor. It stopped after a few seconds but it had stunned her enough that she couldn't get back up.

"Regina was that..?"

"Yes. The diamond was activated."

Henry looked up at Regina.

"So we're all going to die."

"You were born here, so you'll live."

"Excuse me? I'm really sorry but I- _can't_ get- _up_."

Laguna tried to pull herself off the floor, her voice straining as she did so, but she was unused to the heaviness of her human legs. In the water, she was as light as a feather, it had taken no energy to swim from one world to another. Now, however...

"Laguna! Of course. I'm sorry."

The man she knew was David rushed over to help her, lifting her up with ease and placing her back onto the bed. She turned to see everyone staring at her. The only one she didn't recognise was the boy who Regina had called Henry.

"Um, hi. I'm Laguna."

"I'm Henry, n- nice to meet you. Mum, are we all going to die?"

"Not you, Henry. You were born here. You'll live"

"But... I'll be alone."

Laguna looked away from what was clearly a private conversation between a scared family. She looked down at her legs, deciding to test them out. She had stood successfully before the small earthquake had knocked her down. Wiggling her toes, she decided to try again. Gripping onto the end of the bed, she pushed herself up, smiling happily when she didn't fall back down. Lifting one hand off the bed, she took one step forward, stopping when her knee buckled slightly. Once she was sure that she was safe to try again, she moved her other foot to stand next to the first one. This one didn't buckle.

Deciding to be brave, she let go of the bed completely, holding her hands out in front of her in case she fell. When she didn't, her smile grew and she took another wobbly step forward. She carried on like that for a few more minutes, not falling once, before a loud smack shook her out of her bubble of concentration. Looking up, knees knocking together, she gasped at the sight of the man who had just walked into the room. Her legs shook and she fell to the floor again, drawing the attention of everyone once again.

The man, who had obviously just been punched, also looked over at the clatter. His eyes widened when he spotted her, a flash of guilt crossing his face for a moment.

"Laguna?"

"Hook."


End file.
